Bank of England gathers minds for fintech salon

Central bank is building a new fintech community to keep up-to-date with developments in the fast-growing sector

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By

Clare Dickinson

March 17, 2017 Updated: 4:14 p.m. GMT

The Bank of England is building a community of startups, investors and regulators to help it keep abreast of developments in the country's fast-growing fintech sector.

The initiative has been launched by the central bank's fintech accelerator, which works with financial services firms to develop new tools for use by businesses in the City, according to a statement released today.

The 18 founder members of the community include fintech investors Illuminate Financial Management and Euclid Opportunities (part of NEX Group), the Financial Conduct Authority, sector trade body Innovate Finance, data security startup Privitar and law firm Simmons and Simmons.

Members will meet with the BoE two to four times a year to share updates on sector trends and developments, the bank said. It will also hold quarterly networking and "knowledge sharing" events.

The BoE expects membership to grow over time, but it will initially be limited to firms that are "most relevant to the bank’s remit and fintech objectives, and who have initiated contact with us for knowledge sharing purposes".

Firms that have completed a proof of concept - where they work with the bank's experts to test their products in a live environment - will automatically be accepted into the fintech community.

The BoE also announced today that it is working with two new firms on proofs of concept: MindBridge AI, which aims to detect anomalies in financial transactions and reports using data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence, and Ripple, which wants to improve the speed and efficiency of cross-border payments, as well lower settlement risk.